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Sunday 31 July 2016

Canoe Sailing on the Upper Dart 2016

A gentle Spring canoe-sailing trip down the upper reaches of the Dart Estuary from Totnes to Dittisham




The first proper sail of the year took me to Devon and the Dart Estuary. On alternative weekends the tides in the Dart will either be low or high tide around midday. On low tide weekends its  ideal for launching on Dart sailing with the ebb tide to lower reaches of the estuary or perhaps to its mouth, and then one can either stop in a pub or continuing out to sea to wait for the tide to turn, and then you can use the flood tide to bring you back to the launch point rather effortlessly, even if there is little wind.That makes for a good full day out on the water. On the weekends when the tide is high at lunchtime its slightly more difficult to make a full day of it on the Dart. In the mornings the tide wants to take you higher up into the Dart, and for craft propelled by sail or paddle there is an effective tidal gate to the passage down to the lower reaches at the anchor stone just below Dittisham where the estuary is very narrow.

On these weekends I find its better to launch in the upper part of the estuary at Totnes and make a leisurely one way trip down to Stoke Gabriel or Dittisham. 

On the slipway at Totnes, ready to launch the recently named 'EVE'


Heading out of Totnes on the Home reach

This part of the Dart is tricky to sail, the wind will follow the estuary as it winds through steep hills , often putting the wind on the nose or casting complicated and counter intuitive wind shadows on the way. The secret is to not worry about too much about it; just enjoy the scenery and take the sailing opportunities when they arise... and be ready with the paddle.
Looking back to the fleshpots of Totnes


For about a mile from Totnes the river runs fairly straight in a South Easterly direction. Once away from the town the river valley opens up a little on the right hand side and the wind altered from the South West to the West, allowing me to gently  reach towards Sharpham



A bit of decent wind....for a while.
There are four significant bends in the river which wind you past Sharpham and Asprington and out onto the more open part of the Dart estuary.



Its a lonely part of the river at most times, the hills tighten in on the river and the view of fields gives way to steeply sided valleys on either side, densely covered in oak trees, that dip their branches into the water at high tide.









Sharpham House comes into view on the right bank, a sturdy Georgian pile with a picturesque boat house nestled among the oaks trees.
Sharpham Boat House



Primeval vibe of the upper Dart 
About from these few intrusions of human activity parts of the Dart take on a primeval character,its easy to imagine you're traveling in virgin jungle territory. I did see another canoe sailor at this point, head in the opposite direction;they were on a sit on top with a homemade sail and no leeboard, and their progress against the ebb tide seemed slow. I was tacking across the river at this point so our paths didn't cross for a chat.



The last bend in these series reveals Duncannon, historically the home to the Dart salmon fishermen


Duncannon
Once past Duncannon the Dart dramatically opens up; the hills recede a little and the water widens to half a mile of so stretching away for a couple of miles down toward Dittisham. An expectation of better, more constant winds and a chance for so proper sailing is felt.

The open part of the dart!

But sometimes not realised! However after a becalmed start the wind in this open part of the Dart did fill in, Soon I was passing by the little creek leading to Stoke Gabriel

Passing Stoke Gabriel


Looking Down towards Dittisham

As ever , you can see Dittisham long before you can reach it , the village sits on top  of a bend in the estuary and only comes down to the water on the far side.


Getting Closer





Slip way at Dittisham

There's a old slip that is ideal for landing a sailing canoe just past the jetty at Dittisham. I land there and headed for the pub and wait for my Mum to arrive with the transport!

During this trip  I was wearing a pair of Palm dry trouser for the trip. they are great when a full dry suit isn't necessary, they are very well made, with additional protection on the seat and knees however they have no socks just ankle seals.(you can see them in the first pic of this blog) I was wearing a pair of sealskin waterproof socks and my normal typhoon rock boots. But even in May my feet became cold during the trip . I changed into sandals and headed for a pint. It was quiet this early in the season and I managed to get a seat by the window overlooking the river. I decided then and there I needed a pair of fully waterproof launch trousers to keep my feet dry. I subsequently have purchased a pair of Kokatat Tempest trousers which have been brilliant: strong but light and no more wet feet! It was a pleasant and afternoon sail and a gentle introduction to Eve of saltwater.
View from the Pub .

The view down river toward the Anchor Stone. Wet socks=No fun.

Tuesday 12 July 2016

Canoe Sailing to Fort Darnet 2014


A fine Spring morning beckoned back in 2014 and I decided that would be the day I finally got to Fort Darnet , a small island 8 or so miles into the Medway estuary and fortfied with a Victorian era fort.

High tide was forecast at 1.05 pm that day so I got down to Queenborough late morning, I wanted to use the last of the ebb to take me the half mile or so out of the Swale into the Medway.The day was promising to be a belter: A cloudless sky and a force 3 wind, a trip in sync with the tides, what could be better? I drove to Queenborough and set up my sailing canoe before launching onto the Swale.
On the slip at Queenborough

Having come out of the Swale and still with the last of the Ebb tide I decided that rather then turning left into the estuary I would  stick my nose out of the mouth of the Medway and take a look at what lay beyond: There be Dragons?

Grain tower on the mouth of the Medway


I sailed up to the mouth of the Medway, I sailed past Grain tower, on now side on the other, on the isle of Sheppy was Garrision point, a former naval dock now a commercial port.The Thames Estuary lay to the left, to the right stretched the North Sea.







By this time the tide had turned so I started making my way up the Estuary, along Saltpan reach,passing the piers off the Grain power station...





....and past the massive cranes of the container terminal next door,



As I made my way  further into the estuary I fell into company with a squadron of yachts. that came from the Medway and tacked at a bouy to head back towards whence they had come. Unfortunately I had forgotten to bring my jib which would of been ideal in the light winds and I was eventually overhauled!



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Soon I was having to tack to avoid the long jetties of Bee Ness, Oakham Ness and Kingsnorth power station

Kingsnorth Power station & jetty


Once past the power station Fort Darnett came into view, the channel takes a sharp right hand turn around it, creating a strong tidal eddy. On the southern shore of the island are a number of concrete barges , the tide and wind had carried me much faster then I expected and I wasn't sure that I would be able to land for a  hour or so until the tide had risen. However in front of the barges a small stony beach was exposed with appeared firm enough to land on.


The barges on Darnett Fort


The route through the barges


There was a small canyon between two of the barges which offered a route to drag my canoe up onto firmer land ,where I could launch once the tide had turned. I stepped my mast and rolled the canoe through and up onto the grassy high tide line.




Through the canyon!


The day was getting increasingly warmer, I got out of my drysuit, broke out my lunch and relaxed for a while enjoying the sites and sounds of the estuary.

Looking South East 

The view East towards Hoo fort.

Looking South West towards Gillingham

I then decided to explore the fort itself. The forts (Darnet and Hoo) were built in 1870s to protect Chatham naval docks with artillery and a chain boom hung between the two forts. They were built to hold 100 men but most likely were garrisoned with 20-30. The guns were decommissioned before the first world war but the forts were used as observation posts in both wars.
Access to the moated fort is via the plank!

Inside the fort vaults, note the gun port to the right and fireplace to the left


In the middle of the fort. the remains of the flag staff are prominent





As the tide rose I packed up and got ready to return back to Queenborough. I decided to sail back off the main channel, now the tide was up ,via South Yantlet Creek, across the  Bishop and Ham Ooze into Sharfleet Creek and then into Stangate Creek and back into the main Medway channel before heading back into the Swale for Queensborough slipway.



As I headed away from Darnet Fort a small cruiser had moored up on the concrete barges 

Out in the middle of the Medway


Out in the middle of Medway at high tide I was miles away from any shore. Its always amazing how isolated you can feel out here, and remind yourself that you are still in South East England. As I crossed the Bishops Ooze I was struck by the advice on its marker buoy








As I got towards the end of the estuary I started looking for Sharfleet Creek, which runs between Burntwick Island to the North and Slayhill and Greenborough marches to the South. I got a bit lost in the myriad of channel and islands in the marshes as the leeboard of my canoe occasionally grounded I started to get a little worried, if the ebb tide might strand me on a mud bank till the next high tide!




As I made my way through the marshes I came across a solitary Seal basking in the spring sunshine. I eventually found my way into the creek and the deeper water. I made my way back to Queenborough.





I made a film of the trip which can be viewed here:



The following year I returned in much windier conditions to camp overnight on the Island the blog of which is here:




Sunday 3 July 2016

Last & First Sail of the year


The last chance OCSG Coniston meet held on October 2015 is always one of my favourites.
It a great lake to sail, the weather is often exciting, the autumn scenery is something to behold and the two café options are always enticing. I had an extra incentive for this year’s meet, as I would be picking up my new sailing canoe. An experimental version of Solway-Dory’s Shearwater Evolution!










 It also meant saying good bye to my Solway Dory Curlew which has been an excellent sail and very adaptable to improve its seaworthiness and general tinkering. Over the years I owned it I increasingly looked to making it more seaworthy as my trips became more ambitious. I purchased Solway dory's outriggers, obtained the now sadly unobtainable Harmony front and rear airbags, replaced the Holt side-bags with tougher and bigger inflatable boat rollers and experimented with detachable front decks. All these improvements were leading me to the inevitable which was the purchase of a decked canoe with better seaworthiness .I also was keen to have  better capacity to take passengers/ crew on board and the Shearwater fitted these requirements brilliantly.




I drove through the night to arrive early at Coniston on Friday morning to drop off the Curlew to its new owner and then headed down to Solway Dory to pick up my New Shearwater from their workshop hidden deep in the Cumbrian countryside.


Upon arrival my new canoe was trolleyed effortlessly towards me on its side: One of the reasons for not obtaining a larger, decked canoe before now was the restricted access I have at the side of my house to reach the garden. SD solution to this problem was to construct a “Side Trolley” which as they demonstrated, holds the canoe perfectly balanced on its side and makes it effortless to handle through narrow spaces.

The "Side Trolley" in action, enabling my shearwater to fit trough a 24" gap down the side of my house.


The canoe also features a watertight access panel to the front of the cockpit. This makes the entire front under deck watertight, with the rear deck still open to the cockpit for quick storage of items such as launching trolleys etc. After a little bit of work on my mast to ensure it would fit in the new canoe and working out the best way to load the canoe on my car I returned to Coniston eager to get on the water for the first time.

On the water for the first time.



The canoe is only two foot longer then my Curlew but it feels quite different on the water. The main difference in my view is that it’s much more directionally stable, it will track much better and needs less of the constant corrections the Curlew required to keep on course. This means the canoe is a little slower through the tacks however but I don’t see this as a disadvantage. After an hour or so on the water I returned to the shore in order to sort out my sleeping arrangements before the light failed.
The Saturday was one of fairly breezy winds and strong gusts. As usual a large contingent of OCSG members had assembled. Once on the water a number of us headed down the lake towards Peel island. The perfect first destination for the new shearwater.

On board the Shearwater: wave deflector built into the arma’s crossbeam underneath is the cockpit hatch for watertight front under-deck stowage.


The secret harbour






On the Sunday the bulk of the members headed down lake again for the Peel Island. The wind was much less gusty then the day before. I removed the outriggers and sailed in front of the campsite for a while. The side decks make this canoe much more seaworthy then my Curlew. I could sail the Shearwater almost on its beam-ends without any water coming into the cockpit. I decided to head off up to the Bluewater café for an early lunch before I packed up and headed back to London.
Without outriggers 


My Curlew, with its front, rear and side airbags meant there were plenty of places to store items such as paddles, pumps and bags, by sliding them underneath bags and clipping the onto thwarts. The Shearwater with its hard surfaces needs a different, more organised approach to attaching and storing such paraphernalia. It has a surprising number of air-tanks and storage compartments: Forward and aft are two end tanks that are accessible  by 9" screw-in hatches. Behind the front compartment is a cavernous watertight compartment accessible by a large hatch in the front of the cockpit. On each side of the cockpit are the side buoyancy tanks.The starboard tank is divided into two; the front element is flood-able by removal of a bung, this can be removed during a capsize to provide water ballast when reentering the canoe to prevent the canoe rolling over on top of you during reentry.

For now my new canoe is stored on its side, under covers impatiently waiting for Spring and another season of sailing…


Roll (sideways) on!


Shakedown Sail 2016

The uncertain weather this spring has meant plans to sail my Shearwater have been frustrated more then once. I always try (but often fail) to make the first sail of the season a gentle one to shakedown any issues and with a new canoe that was more important to me then previous years. Attempts to launch on the Medway were frustrated more then once.Which lead me to Leybourne lake in Snodland Kent.  I was able to launch into the relatively small gravel pit and try out the canoe in sheltered waters. The problem with such small bodies of water are the flukey winds,but its not a bad spot to shakedown , practise capsize recovery and introduce non sailors to the canoe in sheltered waters.

 I returned there a second time with my wife, to get her to feel comfortable onboard the new canoe, which now had a specific crew seat unlike the Curlew. I took great care in setting up the canoe, rolling it down the slipway on its trolley into the water and carefully helping my wife onboard.Once she was comfortably onboard we set of to sail the small lake, but immediately something was wrong.

The canoe was very sluggish going down wind and would not tack at all without paddle assistance. It was impossible to beat upwind and gusts of wind would lean the canoe over without generating any forward motion. The wife started to get upset  and demanded to be put ashore, except I couldn't get the canoe to go where I wanted it.

What was the problem? Was there some design flaw in my new canoe? It sailed fine previously with just myself onboard. Did I not have our weight distribution correct, had I forgotten how to sail? What was wrong

It took me almost a full half hour to realise that I still had the launch trolley firmly attached to the underside of the hull!



Sailing on Leybourne Lake Kent

EVE  at anchor

Modified decklines to hold spare paddles on the bow